Extra Terrestrial Visitors (1983) User Reviews

Don't Step In Any Trumpy Dumpy!

[zmaturin · 1/10 · 11 March 2001]

Oh, how I love this, the movie that introduced me to the work of Juan Piquer Simon, one of the best "bad" directors ever. It was also the very first episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 I ever saw, way back when, so it will always have a special place in my heart. Although this version of his movie was run through the Film Ventures International ringer (a company that takes movies and re-edits them, adding new music & credits), Simon's style shines through. There's also the usual Juan Piquer Simon stable of actors, including Ian Sera (Kendle in "Pieces") and Frank Brana (the guy who says "You don't have the authority to declare Happy Birthday!" in "Slugs").

The movie is about some poachers who encounter some strange eggs in the woods- no wait, it's about a rockin' rock-n-roll band who are going on a camping trip- no, wait, it's about an animal-loving red-haired kid named Tommy who lives with his unpleasant aunt and uncle deep in the woods. Eventually all these tales converge when Trumpy, a lovable fuzzy alien with an odd shaped head and phallic snout, hatches out of one the aforementioned strange eggs.

Tommy takes in Trumpy and teaches him the joys of jigsaw puzzles and eating peanuts (which Trumpy sucks through his snout, which should be charming but is ultimately a creepy image). Unfortunately, another alien who looks exactly like Trumpy is on a killing spree, and a case of mistaken identity could land Trumpy on the business end of alcoholic Uncle Joe's shotgun!

This is a pleasantly dumb movie, full of dumb characters and dumber dialog ("Oh yeah? Well, you're a jerk!" says Brana to his bearded sidekick). Trumpy is cool, especially when he does "magic things" like stand on the ceiling, make Tommy's laundry fly through the air, and turn an old Simon game into a slammin' beat box (Mix Master Trumpy's jams would later be pilfered by Moby, The Beastie Boys, and others). Also putting in an appearance is a picture of Ronald Reagan, which completely fooled me into thinking this was an American movie.

The MST3K episode featuring this masterpiece is available on video from Rhino, and no fan of absurd cinema should be without it!

This movie made me feel as if I was drinking Sterno filtered through a sweat sock

[lemon_magic · 2/10 · 22 July 2007]

While I don't agree with those reviewers who claim that "Pod People" is the worst movie of all time - these viewers have obviously never seen "Teenagers Battle The Thing" - it is, indeed, a very painful viewing experience. It's got brain-dead characters uttering highly contrived and unlikely dialog and acting with the finesse of sock puppets. (It's also got an English dub created with a tin ear and ESL voice actors reading their lines from cue cards for the first time). It's got fuzzy, washed out sepia tinted photography that resists any attempt by the viewers' eyes to pull pleasure and satisfaction out of the film stock. (It's possible I just saw a bad print of the movie, but even so.) It's got a highly derivative plot that is derivative in all the wrong ways - what's the point of ripping off E.T. if all you do with it is create a "spam in the cabin" type horror movie??

It also gets off to a rousing start by subjecting us to a full length performance of the worst version of an 80's pop song ever heard by human ears. Seriously, as if the movie didn't have enough problems with pacing and atmosphere and dialog and characterization, it also alienates us by subjecting us to a supposed "studio session" where the pop star sings a would be song about driving a car with some of the most maladroit lyrics you will ever hear. (FYI, Mr. Pop Star, you don't want feel the wind in your EYES, you want feel it in your hair or your face. If you feel it in your EYES, you are effectively blinded and will soon crash your car.) The character comes off as an abrasive, self-important jerk, and his cronies and cohorts seem to have been drained of all intelligence, humor, self-awareness or even basic motor functions.

I have to say that I liked the little boy. In spite of the high-pitched feminine voice they dubbed over his part, he seemed genuinely alive with the enthusiasm and magic of childhood, which is a miracle given the situations he was probably working in. The cast and crew probably loved him to death, and he was probably as the only person in the film who wasn't aware that he was sinking into a pile of suck. The kid's performance, even buried under a painfully affected dub, adds a star to the rating.

Also of interest is a synthesizer-heavy soundtrack with very "New Age music" elements that both adds to and takes from the movie's watchability. It's got some nice hypnotic "drone" and "trance" elements, but there is far too much of it and it's mixed waaaay too loud at times. It adds another star to the ratings. Well, half a star, but it would have been a full star if the composer had cut it in about half and turned the volume dial down to "10".

As far the rest...I'm pretty sure the director just pointed the camera at the actors and let them roll. It doesn't look like a film with very many second takes or screenplay rewrites, and the poor actors (who come off as European community theater players at best) are left to struggle with the script as best they can. And as I mentioned, the horrible English dub robs their performances of even the limited nuance and dignity they may have contributed to the film in the first place.

Boy, what a *painful* film. I recommend saving it for times when you feel bad about yourself and your career and prospects. Watching "Pod People" for even a few minutes will put things in perspective: "I may have made some dumb mistakes", you can tell yourself, "but at least I never had anything to to with 'Pod People!'"

"It Stinks!"

[Gafke · 1/10 · 4 February 2005]

A small group of dimwitted poachers stumble upon a cache of strange looking eggs stashed in a cave. One of them gets killed by an unseen creature. Then, a young boy with a weird girly voice and a menagerie in his bedroom discovers one of the over-sized eggs and takes it home to hatch it. Meanwhile, the worlds worst rock band decides to go camping in the same woods. When the sluttiest girl in the group runs afoul of both poachers and unseen creatures and takes a plunge off of a cliff, the unmusical losers take refuge in the house of Molly and her - husband? brother? who knows? - and her young son, the same boy who has just hatched an alien creature called Trumpy out of the egg he found in the woods. Trumpy looks like a cross between a plucked turkey and a vacuum cleaner, and does a lot of dippy things like levitating toys and allowing the cat to play with his nose. When people start turning up dead with strange glowy marks upon their foreheads, it seems to be the work of Trumpy. But soon the truth becomes apparent: there is another creature on the loose in the woods, killing anyone who crosses his path.

This is a very stupid film. Even with the assistance of Joel and the bots, this is still a very painful viewing experience. None of the actors can act and none of the characters are likable at all. All of the girls are either sluts, bitches or doormats and all the men are jerks. The plot is nonexistent, the script seems to have been written by an imbecile...it just roundly sucks. Avoid it, unless it's the MST version. Or unless you're a complete masochist.

The kitten rocks!

[Beomaccer · 18 December 2001]

My favorite scene was the part where the tiny cat starts chomping on Trumpy's nose and wont let go. The actor tries to play it cool by moving along and ignoring it, but the cat is persistent. Everything else was wacky beyond description and the plot was looser than a wet noodle

"Pod People" and "Bio-Dome" are like peas in a pod

[lee_eisenberg · 1/10 · 26 May 2005]

They say that no good deed goes unpunished. This movie - or should I say "this swill" - shows that to be 100% true. Spielberg made "E.T." and someone made "Los nuevos extraterrestres" (called "Pod People" in the United States) in response. The movie has a boy befriending an alien who looks sort of like an anteater, and some weird things result. WHY CAN'T ALIENS KIDNAP THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THESE KINDS OF MOVIES?! There are plenty of good stories out there and they have to go and make this?!

That said, the movie was not a complete waste. Quite the opposite: "MST3K" once showed it. As you might imagine, Joel, Servo and Crow have lots of fun with it.

"IT STINKS!"

[bat-5 · 1/10 · 31 July 1999]

Says one of the many annoying characters that populate this really stupid movie. Something comes to earth and lands in the woods next to a cabin inhabited by a high pitched boy who has a thing for animals, his mother and some old cranky guy. There's also poachers running around, and pretty soon there's a group of teenagers driving around. Eventually they all wind up getting killed by the aliens. Well, not all of them, which is unfortunate because then the movie would be over in thirty minutes! Watch this stinker with Joel, Tom and Crow and laugh along at this really, really bad movie. As Tom would say "Huzzah!"

We're making a deadly alien movie...no wait, a friendly alien film

[Aaron1375 · 1/10 · 24 September 2001]

I saw this film on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Suffice to say, it is one of my favorite episodes of the show as it is a very bad film that is a complete mess and deserving of the riffs it receives. The film apparently was going to be yet another film that tried to copy the success of Alien by having people in the woods being terrorized by an alien. Then, E.T. happened and thus a switch in gears and the alien was now friendly. Well, not entirely, there are two aliens present in the film, one mean and the other friendly so they kind of do a mash up of both films and thus these film was born. I cannot say if the alien was going to look like it did in the final product initially when the film was being made though. The way it looks in this film, I almost have to wonder if the people would would create the semi hit television show Alf saw this film as it does sort of resemble the alien from that show. The version I saw of this film was called Pod People and I am almost positive that the people who released it under the Pod People title are the same ones that did Cave Dwellers as they do the same thing with the credits, having a totally different film run during the opening and ending credits. Here it is a film called Galaxy Invader and from the looks of it, I am going to guess it is not much better than this one.

The story has poachers in the woods and then a little boy in a cabin in the woods and then a singer in a studio and we get introduced to all the principal cast members, thus making this one feel more like a horror at the beginning. A comet or meteor or something crashes and one of the poachers goes into a cave with huge eggs or pods and immediately begins bashing them! The mother returns and dispatches him and later the kid will find a surviving egg and hatch it and raise an alien of his own, all while the mother goes on a kill spree. The film is a mess as it goes all over the place. The singer and his back up singers go camping with a fan of his who falls off a cliff and this leads them to the boy in the cabin's cabin where his mother and cranky uncle resides. Can they get help before all are killed, will the boy get to play with his alien or will this film remain completely uneven?

This made for a wonderful episode of MST3K, in fact, it is my favorite Joel hosted episode. I prefer Mike, but Joel was on fire with this one as it played to his strengths. I never understood the people who claimed Manos was his best episode as to me that one was dull in a lot of places and this one was entertaining throughout. I actually own this film without the riffs on a collection of science fiction films and one day I may try to watch it and see how much was left out due to the show's time constraints; however, I do not see this one becoming vastly better. Unless there is some nudity or something...which brings up another point. What was the deal with the one girl that supposedly was not attractive. Sure, she was the least attractive of the backup singers and the groupie, but she was not exactly ugly either.

So, this film is a movie that wanted to be one thing and then became something else entirely. Kind of like a film from the 70's called The Dark. It started out being about a zombie roaming the streets of L.A, but they turned it into an alien due to the success of the film Alien. This one was trying to copy Alien, but due to the success of E.T it changed. Though the horror elements are still there as the mother alien knocks people off left and right while the boy tries to feed and hide his buddy alien. Strange how the friendly alien had all this magical abilities, but the mother only seem gifted with on hell of a karate chop!

It stinks!!!!!

[sethn172 · 1/10 · 21 February 2006]

Yeah. "The Pod People" is a movie that is so extremely bad, you'll OK the TV and yell out at the top of your lungs, "It stinks!!!!!!" I've compared this movie with other kid versus alien family movies from the 1980s such as "E.T. The Extra-terrestrial" and the lovable "Mac and Me," and what do both of those movies have that "The Pod People" is missing from sight? A good, well thought out story, innovation, happiness, and not being able to get depression within a single viewing, of course! So do not, I repeat, do not watch "The Pod People" without Joel and the Bots of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," because after watching the MST3K version, I couldn't imagine what this movie would be like without the funny commentary!

Spanish science fiction film middlingly directed by Juan Piquer Simón in which a little boy finds a lovable alien .

[ma-cortes · 4/10 · 8 June 2013]

Below average Alien movie in which an extraterrestrial from a distant galaxy befriends a little boy . It's a slight fun with absurd images , ingeniously cheap special effects , horrible musical score with awful songs , campy set decoration and regular art direction . It deals with a young boy (Oscar Martin) in the woods discovers a lovable alien egg to hatch . The creature called Trumpy , a mixture between Alf and an anteater arranges to use his snout to suck up peanuts and other articles . Unfortunately , his partner is found by some poachers (Frank Braña) and carrying out a killing spree . Meanwhile, a rockin' rock-n-roll band (Ian Sera , Susanna Becquer , Nina Ferrer , Emilio Linder) are going on a camping trip . As this extraterrestrial being possesses mighty powers such as sensational strength , throwing objects and he manages to warp time and space with his fingers , all of them being recreated by means of traditional effects .

This is a humdrum adaptation based on ET movie from a story and screenplay by the same director Juan Piquer Simon .¨Extraterrestrial visitors¨ or ¨The new extraterrestrials¨ is an atmospheric , silly Sci-Fi film with terror elements , an amusing monsters mixture , creaky at times but it's still acceptable . The film's original draft was meant to be a straightforward horror film about an evil alien on a murderous rampage, but the producers demanded script alterations in order to cash in on the success of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by featuring a child and cute, lovable alien. The opening and ending credits for ¨The Pod People¨ are superimposed over blurred footage from an entirely unrelated movie, in this case The Galaxy Invader (1985). Film displays passable set design , ridiculous screenplay with two cheesy monsters and average interpretations of all casting . This is a slightly entertaining Spanish science fiction movie though packs absurd situations and embarrassing frames . Originally intended as a low-budget horror movie about an evil alien. After the success of E.T. , the producers : Dick Randall , Montoro and Piquer , made the alien into a lovable character, and added a kid who befriends it. A widely-circulated rumor that script was submitted to Steven Spielberg as a sequel to E.T. is false . However , filmmaker Juan Piquer Simón was not satisfied with the final result . Spain/France co-production and originally filmed in French and Spanish ; the actors learned both languages , it premiered in France before Spain. ¨The new extraterrestrial¨ is a light amusement as well as atmospheric movie that contains bemusing scenes when appear the monsters and take place their confrontation in some ridiculously made scenes , including primitive special effects . The picture has numerous "older technique" FX such as transparency , foggy sets , rubber-suited short man like alien , reverse-footage , excessive make-up ; all of them were made by Juan Piquer , Emilio Ruiz Del Rio and Basilio Cortijo . Juan Simón owned his own independent studio in Madrid, Spain, and designed many of his own special effects sequences for this film . It's a slight fun with professional make-up , naive special effects , evocative set decoration and functional art direction . You will watch it and think it is either awful , hilarious, a masterpiece, or all three . It's a simple entertainment with embarrassing images , naive special effects , campy production design and evocative setting . Although critics do not appreciate much this picture ; however has a kind of loopy , Ed Wood quality that must be endured to be totally considered . The fable is sometimes silly and laughable , though a few Naif effects and action are professionally made . Some illogical parts in the argument are more than compensated for the excitement provided by the Aliens appearance though some scenes are a little bit cheesy . While not a hit during its original run, the film became a limited success when reissued nearly 25 years later and deemed to be one of the best worst films of cinema history ; being one of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 faves , even the fictional pop band's performance of "Burning Rubber Tires", was lampooned in a sketch on Mystery Science Theater 3000 .

The motion picture was regularly directed by Juan Piquer . Juan , who goes by "J.P. Simon" on foreign releases , began in films as a writer and assistant director and continued his career by making short films and documentaries . Juan has produced and directed "exploitation" pictures for two decades running . He was a Spanish film director most well known for directing some cult classic horror films . He was one of the main directors of the Spanish horror boom in the 70s and 80s specially for his quartet of horror films as ¨Escalofrio¨, ¨Slugs¨ , ¨Cthulhu Mansion¨ and his greatest success and immensely popular ¨Pieces¨ , this is one among the many cult classic horror films that have recently been restored and digitally remastered . Juan owns his own studio and created and/or designed many of the simple and primitive special effects sequences you see in any of his many imaginative undertakings . Piquer , who recently passed away, was a good craftsman who realized a lot of amusing as well as entertaining films . Juan Piquer who was director of the Mostra of Valencia (Spain) , displayed a professional career and specialized on all kind of genres as Terror , Sci-fi (The rift , Supersonic man) and made some adaptations about Jules Verne novels ("Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth" , "Mystery on Monster Island") . While his films have been universally panned by the prestigious reviewers, they have a kind of quality that must be endured to be utterly appreciated .

This deserves higher rating

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 8 April 2023]

Juan Piquer Simón made Pieces and Slugs, so we can forgive him for Supersonic Man, The Rift and Cthulhu Mansion (which I like for some reason). With this movie, he's challenging us a bit.

Los nuevos extraterrestres was meant to be a frightening movie about an alien on a murderous Earth rampage, but then E. T. came out and who better than the man who made Pieces to create a clone of Spielberg's family classic?

It starts with poachers trying to get to the alien eggs that they find in the woods and being killed in the process, as well as a rock band getting involved. Then Tommy (Óscar Martín), our child protagonist, brings one of the eggs home and ends up helping it hatch, at which point he gets a new telekinetic friend he calls Trumpy.

Maybe that name hasn't aged well.

Meanwhile, the band - Rick (Ian Sera, Kendall from Pieces and obviously his genitals have healed well as he has a roving eye), his girlfriend Lara (Susana Bequer, who shows up in Hostel: Part II), Kathy (Sara Palmer) and Tracy (Maria Albert), along with a hitchhiker named Sharon (Nina Ferrer) they found on the way - show up at Tommy's house and Lara soon dies with a Big Dipper symbol on her forehead, which happens after she's attacked by Trumpy's mother and falls off a cliff.

This movie alternates between sweet moments between alien and child versus angry alien mother killing people left and right before being shot tons of times by Rick after she kills Tommy's angry Uncle Bill (Manuel Pereiro). The boy and alien say their goodbyes and you're like, well, didn't we just watch Bambi's murderous mother get killed? Has anyone learned anything in this? Is Trumpy going to grow up and murder us all?

Film Ventures International released this as Pod People and the credits appear on top of blurred footage from a whole different movie, Don Dohler's The Galaxy Invader. And hey, if Tommy's room feels familiar, it's the same room where Timmy was working on his dirty puzzle in Pieces.

I have no idea who this movie is for, but I have to respect the lengths it takes to make us think that it was shot in America, as Tommy's bedroom has tons of Boston sports pennants to the point that you question why there are so many of them and start to realize that no, this didn't come from the colonies and no, in no way is this a sequel or in the same world as E. T., no matter what they want to tell you.

The chocolate of alien murder in the woods and peanut butter of human and alien childhood friendship does not taste that great when smashed together, but it sure is fascinating and man, Trumpy looks legitimately like an alien to the point where if you told me that he was an escapee from Groom Lake, I'd believe you.

POWERFUL.

[ocosis · 10/10 · 11 December 2019]

Trumpy could easily kill Spielberg's E.T.

That's how powerful Extra Terrestrial Visitors is.

It's so powerful, that you will believe.

A misfire, to be sure, but enjoyable in a way....

[billshattner · 6/10 · 25 August 2006]

Ahhh... Pod People. Very rare is the movie that is obviously shot on a limited budget, contains a particularly ridiculous plot, and yet finds a way to be oddly entertaining. Such is the case with this infamous Mystery Science victim.

Along those lines, let me make clear what i think is decent, if not good, about Pod People. Despite jokes stating otherwise, the plot is somewhat simple; linear, interwoven, and predictable. However, that mere fact alone makes this film higher quality than countless other MST movies. Furthermore, there is an attempt, despite it falling prey to the painful trap of stereotypes, at character development; admittedly, a handful of the characters are irritating, but even then, they have their moments. The trollop character plays her part with genuine enthusiasm, and serves to provide a shred of actual comic relief.

Ultimately, Pod People is a mediocre film. Its story is laughable in parts, drawn out in others. However, much of the scenery is intriguing, if not outright beautiful, and as a result, the movie has an almost surreal atmosphere.

It's as if Pod People has an intangible charm to it, borne out of its clear vision, mild ambition, and occasional moments of decent film-making. All in all, a watchable movie, but probably just that....

Not E.T., but an incredible simulation

[yesacs · 26 March 2002]

Spoiler Warning: Short version-- Alf meets a young boy scientist, i guess, and shows him how to play Simon the right way.

This is one of my favorite MST3Ks of the Joel era. The "Idiot Control" host segment is a must see. Well, to the movie. This is a combination of E.T., Alf, Behind the Music, and fog. Lots and lots of fog. It is the story of a group of bad musicians that take their job too seriously, so they go the mountains. They apparently stay there for quite some time because of the winter comes and goes a few times. One member of the group falls off a cliff and is promptly killed by her companions when they fold her in half and bring her back to the camper. The road is blocked after too much fog causes a rock fall, and the phones are out too, due to fog. They meet up with a family of voice throwers that have a kid that has been trying to hatch an egg he found in a cave next to a dead guy. The thing hatches and starts drinking all the milk in the house. It looks like the head of a small elephant glued to a bear. Trumpy, as the kid with endless imagination names it, can do stupid things (as Joel says in one of my all time favorite line), like create stop motion animation and shake animal cages. Pretty soon, Trumpy's dad goes on killing spree instead of asking for directions. It reminds me of my own dad. 'Nough said about that. I know it doesn't make sense. I believe that the director dropped some acid, cranked the Pink Floyd and watched E.T. with a running tape recorder in his hand as he dictated the screenplay. Hey, it worked for Keith Richards and "Satisfaction," without the Floyd, obviously.

(Second) Worst Movie I have ever seen!

[Van_Hagar_3000 · 1/10 · 16 August 2003]

Get right to the movie review by skipping the first paragraph

After watching a movie like this I lose faith in humanity but after watching MST3K bad mouth movies like this I regain a little faith in humanity. This is one of the worst movies ever. This is really the second time I have watched MST3K and fully understood it. I watched it with my dad as far back as the Minneapolis year!!! But I never really understood, I mean I understood it some what but not all of the jokes. The first movie I rented was the Movie Version with "This Island Earth" which isn't really bad so I thought MST3K was an damn funny show, now I know it is one of the damn funniest shows ever! This is one of their best episodes I just know it, every time someone screams for help they go through a bunch of names always ending with: McCloud!

This movie is the worst movie I have ever seen (although I want to see 'Manos' Hands of Fate). There are three different plots, PLOT A is about a little boy and his family in the wood, PLOT B is about some singers (who sing for 7 minutes then cut back to boy then sing for another 7), finally PLOT C involve some poachers. Eventually the singers go to the little boys house and you think finally it all comes together, not really the family leave the little boys plot and hang with the singers. Anyway the director must have been the son of the inventor of the fog machine because every scene outside is foggy, not an exaggeration either. Then it switches from winter to summer a few times outside also. The little boy finds an egg and tries to hatch it and becomes friends with it and calls the creature 'Trumpy'. he feed it milk and with the magic of choppy editing the thing grows from a kitten's size to the kids size.

The second plot has the singers getting in a fight and one of them going into the forest and getting killed by Trumpy's fellow creature so they take her to a house and then they decide to go to the rangers house and tell them stuff I guess.

I'll stop here in case you are waiting to watch this movie, but the best part is when Trumpy does magic things which the guys rip to shreds.

Hi all, it's two years later and I want to say that this review is a bit out dated. First, I openly admit I focused too much on Joel and the bots. I was new to MST3K, and just wanted to talk as much as possible about them. Second, I have seen Monster a-Go Go, and that is far worse than Pod People. BTW, I didn't know you can't talk in caps anymore.

A very baffling movie

[Novus · 1/10 · 1 July 2000]

This has to be one of the oddest films ever highlighted on MST3K. Starting with a baffling opening - note that the poachers see strange lights while the asteroid/egg chamber is still in outer space - and ending on a depressing note (most of the interesting characters are dead and poor Trumpy will inevitably follow them), Pod People provides two hours of... well, pain.

To me, the high point of the film is that extremely weird scene where Trumpy exhibits his magic powers of telekinesis, toy animation and extreme goofiness. "Wow, Trumpy, you can do stupid things!" indeed.

(As a postscript, one wonders why a previous reviewer used the Official MST3K Episode Guide's summary of the film verbatim.)

It's the movie sooo bad you love to watch it

[Nadsat · 1/10 · 27 January 1999]

Pod People is a chaotic mix of flimsily related plot lines, bad actors, and lame ideas. It seems made to be laughed at-- it produced one of the best Mystery Science Theater episodes. Every scene is loaded with fog, strange people, and a failed attempt at producing a sense of mystery. The only sad part of the movie is that someone actually intended it to be taken seriously. The monster shown in the background during the beginning credits reappears during the end credits and is not seen at any other time during the actual movie. The ending provides no resolution whatsoever, which actually doesn't matter because it's impossible to care about any of the overly stereotyped characters anyway. A scene guaranteed to induce hysterics: Trumpy's telekinetic "fun" with the little boy's toys.

uh...

[iscarabaid · 1/10 · 20 March 2001]

This is the worst movie in recorded history! It takes the cake as the stupidest movie ever. If you really want to see it, rent the mystery science theatre version and watch them make fun of it. Otherwise it's not worth your time. The music is just as bad with wierd blips here and there and sparratic, spaz drumming.

Terrible, one of the all-time worst!

[prpolen · 1/10 · 7 February 2001]

This movie is really bad, one of the worst I've ever seen. Thank God for "MST3000" and the 'bots helping us out with this one. I especially hated the squeaky voiced Mason Resse look-alike as the kid, and the scenes of the idiots in the recording studio were the absolute pits. What was with that guy wearing an "I'm a Virgin" t-shirt? Also, according to the book "Gestures" by former Parker Pen VP Roger E. Axtell, "The 'O.K.' sign, with thumb and forefinger in a circle and the other fingers splayed outward, is an obscene gesture in Spain." This explains why the singer is giving this sign when saying "It sucks!" in the movie, since it's Spanish. Why was it left in for the overseas audience? It also does NOT let off the hook those who dubbed the song into something pathetically incomprehensible and indefensible. "Flying over fish"? "Idiot in control now"? Who can figure out what they were trying to dub? I loved it when Joel and friends did their take off on this. The alien character also sucked, looking like a reject from a Sid and Marty Krofft pilot. One of the all time worst! Consider yourself duly warned even if you watch this with Joel and the crew! My rating: 1 out of 10.

Less than the Sum of its Parts

[cadams7 · 1/10 · 11 August 2005]

Wow, where to start? Joel and the crew of MST3K's Satellite of Love have covered most everything. The only redeeming quality of the un-mistied version version of the movie is the soundtrack, which I would love to grab on vinyl -- the synthesized background music is like "Trump"ed up Yanni, Tangerine Dream and Wendy Carlos all mixed together on B-rate univoxes. WIthout the soundtrack to tie it together, this movie seems like three separate films hastily tacked to one another during a short weekend of Bolivian flake-fueled editing. As an added plus (read: minus), the wardrobe choices are reminiscent of a Vanity 6 / Loverboy World Tour. From a directorial standpoint, it's nearly unwatchable, and the major plot twist is likely to be missed entirely due to two identical costumes. The scene with stop-motion animation is worse than a dozen California Raisins Holiday Specials. You may have to watch it several times to even tie the characters to the flimsy plot, and who would want to do that? Not intended for American audiences, but I'm pretty sure it's awful in all cultures. 1/10

An amusing science-fiction tale

[f.gimenez · 10/10 · 11 April 2001]

I´m afraid I´ll be the only person who will defend this movie. And I have my reasons.

When so many people tell you that a movie is awful, terrible, boring, etc... you´ll probably find it amusing. Yes, and that´s precisely what´s happened to me.

This movie is a mixture of "E.T.", "Alien" and "Gremlins", shot entirely in Spain and performed by Spanish actors. And I´ve seen many many worse movies made in glorious Hollywood.

I just don´t understand what´s wrong with the characters in it. They act the same way so many other characters do in so many other similar movies. The little boy has a normal voice... and there´s not so much fog in it!!...

Good acting, a good plot, good special effects and an adorable extra- terrestrial called Trumpy make this movie quite interesting.

9 out of 10, why not??... I´ve enjoyed it...

A touching story about a boy and his alien friend

[Hayjohowe · 6/10 · 6 May 2012]

Pod Peopl, a.k.a extraterrestrial visitors, gives a new approach to sci-fi movies, and sets the stage for movies like E.T. In this movie, we have a young boy, who finds an alien egg. When a creature hatches from the egg, the friendship between the two grow. We come to enjoy Trumpey, the alien who the boy befriends, as he is a kind and curious character, and fun to watch. But at the same time, another alien identical to Trumpey is terrorizing the family, and a group of campers, killing them off one by one. The boy refuses to accept that his new friend is the monster responsible. So he and Trumpey run off, before Trumpey can be killed. When the boy is attacked by the other alien, Trumpey comes to his rescue, and convinces his fellow monster to let the boy try to help him. But when the boys uncle attacks them both, the other alien kills him, only to be shot and killed himself. It is then that the boy realizes that there is nothing he can do to protect Trumpey, so he sends him off into the woods. The ending is very touching, because we get to hear the sadness in the boys voice because he has to say goodbye to his new friend. We also know exactly what Trumpey is thinking, even without dialog. The movie provides a new approach to alien films, and i'm forced to think of E.T. while I watch it, because of their similarities. Overall it's a good movie, but not amazing.

Pleasantly Stupid - Right Trumpy?

[Rainey-Dawn · 3/10 · 14 March 2019]

No it's not a good movie - yes it's so stupid it's entertaining.

I wouldn't go out of my way to see this film - but since it came in my 50-pack of Sci-Fi films I watched it and got a kick out of it to a degree. I got quite a few giggles watching this one. It's no match for Spielberg's "E.T." but it is a fun to watch bad film.

3.5/10